Tech

The Metaverse is a virtual/online place for people to collaborate and connect with each other where users create their own digital Avatars to fully immerse themselves in a VR (virtual reality) or AR (augmented reality) world. The concept of the Metaverse has been explored in movies like The Matrix trilogy or books like Ready Player One. Today, the Metaverse is evolving with many big tech and startup companies competing to take the lead. Meta (formerly Facebook) is building a world around Oculus and other VR headsets where users will socialize with each other. Microsoft on the other hand is going to release its own Metaverse (Microsoft Mesh) where it’s mainly targeting businesses and work such as: VR meetings/conferences instead of Zoom calls! Another example of the Metaverse is The Sandbox where companies buy sand (land) virtually so they can display news or NFTs (Non-fungible tokens) which is digital art. Ultimately, the Metaverse is important to our world because it would become the dominant digital medium to engage with each other. An economic impact of the Metaverse is that when people spend more time in this digital realm, they will spend more on digital goods and services. For example: buying more NFTs, using more digital currencies, etc. Similarly, a social impact is that it will change how we discuss ideas, share knowledge, and create with each other. For example: VR campaigns, protests, concerts, classes, etc. Though the Metaverse is years from its full potential, some of the greatest minds are working on it and it could be here sooner than we think.